Conmergence

The Centre for Internet and Society in collaboration with the Frontier Foundation is holding a three day Digital Natives workshop in Taipei from 15 to 17 August, 2010. The three day workshop will serve as an ideal platform for the young users of technology to share their knowledge and experience of the digital and Internet world and help them learn from each other’s individual experiences.

Everybody has a story to tell, and with the Internet, it is possible to tell the story and be heard. Young people around the world use digital technologies to find a voice, an expression, a creative output and a space for dialogue. Gone are the days when the young were only to be seen and not heard. In the Web 2. 0 world, the young are seen, heard and are making a dramatic change in the world that we live in.

As Internet and digital technologies become more widespread, the world is shrinking, time is replaced by Internet time, we are constantly connected and intricately linked to our contexts, our people, our cultures and our networks. And you, yes YOU are a part of this change. In fact, as Digital Natives – people who have found technologies as central to their lives – you are directly affecting the lives of many, sometimes even without knowing about it.

An Open Call for Participation The Centre for Internet and Society (Bangalore, India) in collaboration with the Frontier Foundation (Taipei, Taiwan) are calling out to young technology users to share stories about how they have tried to change things around them with the use of digital and Internet technologies. Conversely, if you feel that the presence of these technologies has significantly changed you in some way, we want to hear about that too! These can be stories where you have made a significant impact by initiating campaigns or movements for a particular cause, stories where you have used technologies to cope with problems in your personal and social life through your online persona in the virtual World Wide Web or stories where a small blog you started, or a Facebook group you created, or a plurk network that you started, or a discussion group that you participated in, led to a change that has a story to tell. The three day workshop will select 20 participants from all around Asia and in the Middle East to come and share these stories, to interact with facilitators and scholars who have worked in different countries and areas, and to form a network of collaboration and support. We will give your stories a face, a voice and a platform where they can be heard in your own voice, in your own style and in your own formats. Participants can fill in an application form (as given below) and forward it to digitalnatives@cis-india.org by 15th July 2010. Simultaneously a website will also be hosted online where the Digital Natives will contribute to the content. Selected participants will be encouraged to document in it. Expenses relevant to the project will be granted to the selected participants.

Application Form

Digital Natives workshop Dates: 15, 16 and 17 August, 2010

Venue:Taipei (Taiwan)

Name:

Gender:

Age:

Primary language of communication: Other languages you can read and write:

Email:

Postal address:

Describe your Internet related experience / initiative(s) in 300 words. Furnish with URLs where necessary. Optionally, if images and videos are part of the description, then upload them in a high resolution version to a secure website and provide the URL. Write in a few sentences about your expectation from the workshop.

Tick between the brackets:

[ ] I declare that the above information is true to the best of my knowledge.

[ ] I agree that Digital Natives will use the material I have provided for public use.

Please note that the information you provide will be kept for purposes of the Digital Natives project. Materials which you submit will be used for reporting to sponsors and for public use relevant to the project.

Hasina Hasan
hasina@cis-india.org
Digital Natives Co-ordinator
Centre for Internet and Society
+91-80-40926283

Dear Colleagues,

IJONTE is an interdisciplinary journal of research on new trends in education and their implications. The main object of the journal is to focus on developments, problems and solutions in educational sciences and become a forum for the educators to share their opinions. IJONTE is a professional society dedicated to the interdisciplinary studies in education and is inviting colleagues from different fields to contribute to the scholarly debate.

IJONTE will be published 4 times a year in English. The first issue will be published by 01. 06. 2010. For more information, please visit our web site at www.ijonte.org

The editors invite you to submit your article to this NEW journal.

Sincerely,

Editors

Prof. Dr. Zeki Kaya

Prof. Dr. Uğur Demiray

# # # #

Dear colleagues,

International Conference on New Trends in Education and Their Implications

"In honor of Prof. Dr. Ozcan Demirel in his 50th year of service in Education"

11-13 November 2010 Antalya, Turkey

www.iconte.org

In the first ICONTE new trends in education and their implications will be discussed. This conference is being convened to focus on developments, problems and solutions in educational sciences and become a forum for the educators to share their opinions. ICONTE is dedicated to the interdisciplinary studies in education and is hopes to provide a variety of venues to bring invaluable information and researchers from different fields.

You are invited to submit abstracts for both paper and poster presentations. Moreover your contributions and innovative ideas will help us develop a conference panel.

We are expecting a lot of researchers from all over the world and from different disciplines to attend the conference during which around 400 unique studies will be discussed and more than 100 sessions will be held. The language of the Conference will be English and Turkish. Abstracts and full papers will be published separately. For more information, please visit conference web site at www.iconte.org

We would be honored with your valuable contribution and presence.

Yours sincerely,

In behalf of organizing committee

Prof. Dr. Zeki Kaya & Prof. Dr. Uğur Demiray

GLORIAD is built on a fiber-optic ring of networks around the northern hemisphere of the earth, providing scientists, educators and students with advanced networking tools that improve communications and data exchange, enabling active, daily collaboration on common problems. With GLORIAD, the scientific community can move unprecedented volumes of valuable data effortlessly, stream video and communicate through quality audio- and video-conferencing.

GLORIAD exists today due to the shared commitment of the US, Russia, China, Korea, Canada, the Netherlands and the five Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, to promote increased engagement and cooperation between their countries, beginning with their scientists, educators and young people. The benefits of this advanced network are shared with Science & Education (S&E) communities throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas.

GLORIAD provides more than a network; it provides a stable, persistent, non-threatening means of facilitating dialog and increased cooperation between nations that often have been at odds through the past century. This new era of cooperation will provide benefits not only to the S&E communities but to every citizen in the partner countries through:

These are a small sample of the literally thousands of active collaborations served by both the general and advanced network services provided by GLORIAD. To learn more about the applications using GLORIAD, browse the following pages. This site describes the currently operating GLORIAD network and plans to expand this to a much higher capacity and more capable infrastructure in the years ahead.

International conference of the Institute for Environment, Engineering, Economics and Applied Mathematics:  APPLIED COMPUTER SCIENCE (ACS)

Malta, September 15-18, 2010

International conference of the Institute for Environment, Engineering, Economics and Applied Mathematics:  CIRCUITS, SYSTEMS, SIGNALS (CSS)

Malta, September 15-18, 2010

International conference of the Institute for Environment, Engineering, Economics and Applied Mathematics:  URBAN SUSTAINABILITY, CULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY, GREEN DEVELOPMENT GREEN STRUCTURES and CLEAN CARS (USCUDAR 2010)

Malta, September 15-18, 2010

International conference of the Institute for Environment, Engineering, Economics and Applied Mathematics: MATHEMATICAL MODELS FOR ENGINEERING SCIENCE (MMES)

Tenerife, November 30 – December 2, 2010

International conference of the Institute for Environment, Engineering, Economics and Applied Mathematics: DEVELOPMENT, ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, ECONOMICS (DEEE)

Tenerife, November 30 – December 2, 2010

International conference of the Institute for Environment, Engineering, Economics and Applied Mathematics: Communication and Management in Technological Innovation and Academic Globalization (COMATIA’10)

Tenerife, November 30 – December 2, 2010

New Plenary Lectures in our New Conferences

The Institute for Environment, Engineering, Economics and Applied Mathematics is a non-profit organization devoted to promoting economic and cultural advancement. Established in 2006, the Institute organizes multidisciplinary conferences for academics and professionals, mainly in the fields of engineering, science, and education. The Institute for Environment, Engineering, Economics and Applied Mathematics holds conferences and courses in both industrialized and developing nations.

The conferences of the Institute for Environment, Engineering, Economics and Applied Mathematics  are published by different Publishing Houses, timely announced on the entry page of each conference. They might be EUROPMENT, NAUN, Springer, IOS, Cambridge, or an Openly Accessed Library, according to the nature of the topics of the conferences. Indexing is according to the indexing agreements of the selected publishing houses.

The Institute for Environment, Engineering, Economics and Applied Mathematics has been a multi-disciplinary society made up of working scientists, researchers, designers and managers who are focused on advancing the use of computer simulation. Each year the Institute holds conferences where conference participants may present papers, attend technical sessions, visit the exhibit areas, and make contacts with other professionals.

How Social Media Is Revolutionizing Community Building – And How Planners Can Manage It

By Mickey Murphy, Association Conventions & Facilities, themeetingmagazines.com

During a major conference that her firm was assisting, Julie S. McKown, communications strategist, Fusion Productions, was sitting backstage during a general session of the meeting. On the projection screen, rolling along in real-time, were tweets from attendees in the audience who were listening to the speaker’s remarks.

What is justice? How can we be more just people, and a more just church? These questions seem acute in our time, as American Christians have access to unprecedented wealth and power while so many of our brothers and sisters sometimes lack even daily bread. As this new series of podcasts tries to show, the Bible offers a profound and eminently workable approach to changing our own lives — our attitudes, behaviors, values, and desires — so as to become more just people. I hope you enjoy this series and welcome your comments or questions. Dr. Mark W. Hamilton Associate Professor of Old Testament and Associate Dean ACU Graduate School of Theology Abilene, TX 79699 Editor, The Transforming Word

Podcast here.

http://broadband.ideascale.com/a/rpxAuthentication.do

Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson and their team at GoROWE.com have made it their mission to promote “results-only work environments”. They have a Linkedin GoROWE Group http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2715125 and a blog at their web page. I think it is asinine that as we build out global broadband, cloud computing and distributed computing like World Community Grid, Grid Republic and BOINC, that management refuses to adopt/provide tools which would allow folks (many with disabilities — 70% unemployed) to work from anywhere the work can be done. Sure, there are security and IP issues, but there are rural economic development and green issues, not to mention digital accessibility issues that CANNOT be solved until the mental culture/worldview of C-Suites and their subordinates promote the available technologies. So share holders, proxy holders, institutional investors–let’s start asking about these issues during the next quarterly conference call.

The Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council has issued a Call for Papers for its 9th annual conference to be held from September 12 – 16, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV.  The 2010 FTTH Conference & Expo is the only gathering of its kind dedicated to the advancement and deployment of FTTH technologies and benefits. This year’s theme, FTTH: All Fiber, All the Way!, will bring leaders, visionaries and decision makers to the Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino to share success stories and lessons learned about the business elements needed to generate revenue with FTTH.

With considerable investments in fiber to the home deployment, the pressure is on for operators to add subscribers and to generate revenue from the subscribers they serve. The stakes are high and so are the expectations. The 2010 program will offer attendees an overview of best business practices for advancing of high speed broadband over fiber optic networks.

The FTTH Council is seeking papers in the following target areas:
Conference Tracks

1.    Why Fiber all the Way – explain the advantages of the all fiber network – for greater revenue services, lower cost of ownership, and economic development. Experience-based service provider submissions will be given first consideration.

2.    Success Stories: Share your experiences as a provider of FTTH services to help others build successful FTTH based businesses. Explain the benefits realized from linking your customers and community to FTTH, to better quality of life and prosperity.  Experience-based service provider submissions will be given first consideration.

3.    New Technology: Educate prospective and practicing network builders on new technologies that enable profitable FTTH services. Target topics include new FTTH standards such as 10 Gigabit PONs, MDU technologies, in-home connectivity, video and IP video, green benefits, and comparisons of FTTH to other broadband technologies. Special consideration will be given to system-level papers that help decision-makers improve the business case for FTTH.

4.    Advanced Network Design, Construction and Management: Explain innovations in efficient network design, construction, installation and testing. Describe new options for efficient management of the network and subscribers. Target topics include network design cost modeling, construction techniques and equipment, testing and tools for managing subscribers.

5.    Finance and Regulatory:  Elucidate the new funding and financing options available, and teach how to access capital.   Explain how to navigate though the application process to reach government loans and grants. Provide insights on the National Broadband Plan.

6.   Fiber 101:  Provide a firm foundation in the fundamentals of FTTH – in the areas of greatest concern to FTTH deployers – content acquisition, technology, installation techniques, network design, or any topic you feel is relevant to FTTH neophytes.

7.  Latin America (Portuguese and/or Spanish only):  Latin America (Portuguese and/or Spanish only) – provide insights to Latin American providers on the opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned in deploying FTTH to help our Southern neighbors launch FTTH successfully to millions of homes in the region.

Abstract Guidelines

Abstracts should be a maximum of 500 words, without pictures, and must be commercial free. The abstract should describe the primary conclusion or results of the paper including pertinent details of the work indicating the significant findings. Learner outcomes must be included. Papers must contain significant new material not presented or published previously.  Papers may range from introductory to advanced, but bear in mind that your audience may be just getting started in this field. As such, “FTTH 101″ papers will also be considered within each category.*

Returning by popular demand for our 2010 Program…we will be offering a track sessions in Spanish or Portuguese supported by the FTTH Council Latin American Chapter.  As a perspective speaker, you may wish to indicate that you wish to repeat your presentation in Spanish or Portuguese during the online submission process.

For complete information on deadlines and submission guidelines go through the newsletter signup/update process ( click here ) and select “Add Me To: 2010 Call for Papers Submission Announcement.”

FTTH 101 Papers do not need to meet the new or unpublished requirement.

About the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council

The Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council is a non-profit association consisting of companies and organizations that deliver video, Internet and/or voice services over high-bandwidth, next-generation, direct fiber optic connections – as well as those involved in planning and building FTTH networks.  The Council works to create a cohesive group to share knowledge and build industry consensus on key issues surrounding fiber to the home. Communities and organizations interested in exploring FTTH options may find information on the FTTH Council web site at www.ftthcouncil.org.

About Legend Conference Planning

Legend Conference Planning is the official project management and event planning firm for the 2010 FTTH Conference & Expo and the FTTH Council Secretariat. For further information, email at info@legendconferences.com.

Contact:
Speaker Liaison
Legend Conference Planning
Tel: 613-226-9988 x4
Email: speakerliaison@legendconferences.com

S 1714 IS
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1714
To authorize grants for the creation, update, or adaption of open textbooks, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 24, 2009
Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To authorize grants for the creation, update, or adaption of open textbooks, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘Open College Textbook Act of 2009’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The growth of the Internet has enabled the creation and sharing of open content, including open educational resources.
(2) The President has proposed a new, significant Federal investment in the creation of online open-source courses for community colleges that will make learning more accessible, adaptable, and affordable for students.
(3) The President has challenged the United States with a goal of having the highest college graduation rate in the world by 2020.
(4) More than 80 percent of the 23,000,000 jobs that will be created in the next 10 years will require postsecondary education, but only 36 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds are currently enrolled in postsecondary education.
(5) The high cost of college textbooks continues to be a barrier for many students in achieving higher education, and according to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, 200,000 qualified students fail to enroll in college each year due to cost.
(6) The College Board reported that for the 2007-2008 academic year an average student spent an estimated $805 to $1,229 on college books and supplies.
(7) Making high quality open textbooks freely available to the general public could significantly lower college textbook costs and increase accessibility to such education materials.
(8) Open textbooks can improve learning and teaching by creating course materials that are more flexible, adaptable, and accessible through the use of technology.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) DIRECTOR- The term ‘Director’ means the Director of the National Science Foundation.
(2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION- The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
(3) OPEN LICENSE- The term ‘open license’ means an irrevocable intellectual property license that grants the public the right to access, customize, and distribute a copyrighted material.
(4) OPEN TEXTBOOK- The term ‘open textbook’ means a textbook or set of course materials in electronic format designed for use in a college course at an institution of higher education that is licensed under an open license.
(5) SECRETARY- The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Education.
SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Grants Authorized- From the amounts appropriated under subsection (i), the Secretary is authorized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to carry out the activities described in this section, including creating, updating, or adapting open textbooks. The Secretary shall award grants in a manner that will result in the creation of a comprehensive slate of high quality course materials for introductory courses in a variety of subject areas.
(b) Eligible Entity- In this section, the term ‘eligible entity’ means–
(1) an institution of higher education;
(2) a professor or group of professors at an institution of higher education; or
(3) a nonprofit or for-profit organization that produces open textbooks.
(c) Duration- Grants awarded under this section shall be 1 year in duration.
(d) Applications-
(1) IN GENERAL- Each eligible entity desiring a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Secretary may reasonably require.
(2) CONTENTS- Each application submitted under paragraph (1) shall include a description of the project to be completed with grant funds and–
(A) a plan for quality review and review of accuracy of content;
(B) a plan for access to ensure the widest possible availability of the digital version of the open textbook;
(C) a plan for distribution and adoption of the open textbook to ensure the widest possible adoption of the open textbook in postsecondary courses, including, where applicable, a marketing plan or a plan to partner with for-profit or nonprofit organizations to assist in marketing and distribution; and
(D) a plan for tracking and reporting formal adoptions of the open textbook within postsecondary institutions, including an estimate of the number of students impacted by the adoptions.
(e) Special Consideration- In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall give special consideration to applications that demonstrate the greatest potential to produce–
(1) the highest quality and most marketable open textbooks;
(2) open textbooks that correspond to the highest enrollment courses at institutions of higher education;
(3) open textbooks that are easily utilized by faculty members at institutions of higher education; and
(4) open textbooks created in partnership with for-profit or nonprofit organizations to assist in marketing and distribution.
(f) Uses of Grants-
(1) OPEN TEXTBOOKS- An eligible entity that receives a grant under this section shall–
(A) create a new open textbook for use in postsecondary coursework;
(B) update an open textbook for use in postsecondary coursework; or
(C) adapt a textbook into an open format for use in postsecondary coursework.
(2) LICENSE- An open textbook created, updated, or adapted under paragraph (1) shall be licensed through an open license.
(3) ACCESSIBILITY- The full and complete digital content of each open textbook created, updated, or adapted under paragraph (1) shall be–
(A) posted on an easily accessible and interoperable website, which site shall be identified to the Secretary by the eligible entity; and
(B) made available free of charge to, and may be downloaded, redistributed, changed, revised, or otherwise altered by, any member of the general public.
(g) Review Process- The Secretary shall develop a peer review and evaluation process in consultation with the Director to ensure that open textbooks created, updated, or adapted under this section are of the highest quality, accurate in content, and meet or exceed market quality and accessibility standards.
(h) Report- Upon an eligible entity’s completion of a project supported under this section, the eligible entity shall prepare and submit a report to the Secretary regarding all project costs, including the value of any volunteer labor and institutional capital used for the project.
(i) Authorization of Appropriations- There are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 to carry out this section for fiscal year 2010 and such sums as are necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.
SEC. 5. LICENSING MATERIALS WITH A FEDERAL CONNECTION.
(a) In General- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, educational materials such as curricula and textbooks created through grants distributed by Federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, for use in elementary, secondary, or postsecondary courses shall be licensed under an open license.
(b) Accessibility- The full and complete digital content of each of the materials created as described in subsection (a) shall be–
(1) posted on an easily accessible and interoperable website, which site shall be identified to the Secretary by the grant recipient; and
(2) made available free of charge to, and may be downloaded, redistributed, changed, revised, or otherwise altered by, any member of the general public.
SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that institutions of higher education should encourage the consideration of open textbooks by professors within the generally accepted principles of academic freedom that established the right and responsibility of faculty members, individually and collectively, to select course materials that are pedagogically most appropriate for their classes.
SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
Not later than September 30, 2015, the Secretary shall prepare and submit a report to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives detailing–
(1) the open textbooks created, updated, or adapted under this Act;
(2) the adoption of such open textbooks; and
(3) the savings generated for students, States, and the Federal Government though the use of open textbooks.

The Alliance for Distance Education in California (ADEC) is pleased to announce Summit XXI: Online Education — Collaborating to Succeed. The annual distance learning summit will be held in partnership with CUE 2010 this year. ADEC’s Summit reflects the theme of collaboration in today’s challenging times and the corresponding booming growth in recent years of online learning.Sessions will examine online trends, collaborative professional development and content delivery and successful funding strategies. Lunch and reception are included. CUE 2010 conference registration is NOT required to attend the summit. Registration is limited to 50 attendees so sign up today!

# # # #

New Online Learning Bundle to Attend ADEC Summit, CUE 2010 & SAVE!
Greetings ADEC members! I wanted you to be among the first to hear about an exciting new way to save precious professional development funding AND advance you and your colleagues’ learning opportunities!
To draw attention to the record number of activities centered around online learning at this year’s CUE Conference, we’ve crafted a bundle of all of them and lowered the cost to participate! Please feel free to attend and share with those around you!
All the details: http://www.cue.org/conference/bundles#olb
Here’s the info:Online Learning Bundle – Regularly $394, Bundle rate of $349Full CUE Conference registration <http://www.cue2010.org/> , March 4-6; Palm Springs, CA.  Conference registration includes opening and closing keynotes, over 200 speaker presentations, and 100,000 square feet of vendor displays.  1 year CUE membership benefits <http://www.cue.org/members/memberPage/>  Online Education Summit <http://www.cue.org/conference/oes>  - Thursday, March 4, 10 am – 7 pm; The Alliance for Distance Education in California (ADEC) is holding its annual distance learning summit at CUE this year.  This reflects the theme of collaboration in today’s challenging times and the corresponding booming growth of online learning in recent years.  Sessions will examine online trends, collaborative professional development and content delivery, and successful funding strategies.  Lunch and reception are included.Online Learning Breakfast – Saturday, March 6, 7 – 9 am; Susan Patrick – Join Susan Patrick, CEO and President of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) and panel of expert guests for a breakfast discussion on the future of online learning in California. Continental breakfast included 7:00 – 7:30 am.  Using E-Learning for Academic Continuity:  School Closures & Flu Pandemic Planning   Saturday, March 6, 12:30 – 1:30 pm; Spotlight session by Susan PatrickA Global and National Perspective on the Future of Education – Saturday, March 6, 2:00 – 3:00 pm; Spotlight session by Susan Patrick eLearning Special Interest Group picks <http://www.cue.org/conference/featuredstrands>  Various concurrent session over the 3-day conference <http://www.cue.org/conference/sessions/%20> See you in Palm Springs!
– • • •Mike LawrenceExecutive DirectorComputer-Using Educators (CUE)www.cue.org925.478.3461• • •
Kitty SalinasMatrix California MediaAlliance for Distance Education in California
626-272-1615fax 626-285-3754kitty.salinas@sbcglobal.net